5 quintal ganja seized from coconut-laden van, two held

Malkangiri/Bhubaneswar, 07/09/2017 ( Odisha Samachar / Abhisek Mohanty )- : The excise officials seized 5 quintals of ganja from a coconut-laden pick-up van near Balimela area in Malkangiri district and arrested two persons in this connection.

Those arrested were identified as Chintu Behera of Angul district and Samuel Hotra, a native of Jeypore.

Acting on a tip-off that the van contained a huge quantity of contraband, a team of excise sleuths intercepted the vehicle. After detaining the driver, the officials found several bags of the banned drug kept under coconuts.

The contraband, estimated to be around Rs 30 lakh, was being carried to Chitrakonda in the district to Angul, an official said.